


A Secret Crown of Ravens

by Venturous



Category: Sense8 (TV)
Genre: Ancient magic, F/F, F/M, Iceland, M/M, Multi, Post-Season/Series 01, Runes, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 07:59:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8882662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Venturous/pseuds/Venturous
Summary: Riley seeks a safe place for Will. Terrified that they have no defenses, the Cluster soon discovers they have a powerful ally already in the fold.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [piercethenightvale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/piercethenightvale/gifts).



> Thank you to the Wachowskis and their cast and crew for an incredibly exciting show, so much depth of possibilitity for these characters it boggles the mind. I can't wait for Season 2 to make my humble tale completely AU. 
> 
> Happy Yuletide!

**Sørvágur, Faroe Islands**

“Take care, now, Riley. Are you sure you can handle it from here?

The wind whipped her hair around, a chill bite in the otherwise warming sunrise. After 12 hours on the fishing boat, the land beneath her feet felt strangely solid.

“Yes, yes, I will be fine. Thank you so much Sven. I don’t know how I can ever repay you. Please look out for my dad, and tell him not to worry. I have help.”

He looked at her, measuring the truth of her words. The Riley he had known was a delightful but fragile being. He had grilled her on how she would manage an ailing man who outweighed her by half traveling on her own. However, this Riley was quite steely, and seemed determined she would prevail. Sven said a little prayer to his dead friend. Magnus, and decided to trust her.

He guided a sleepy Will Gorski across the gangway and into the waiting cab. Riley was negotiating with the driver about the airport.

“Can we get a wheelchair for Mr. Gorski once we’re at the airport?”

“Why of course, Miss.” He looked at Sven and back to Riley, who impatiently waited for him to deal with her.

“Then let’s go.” She slid into the back seat and picked up Will’s hand. “We’re almost safe, my darling.” she murmured “We’re almost safe.”

The tiny port of Sørvágur was much smaller than she had imagined, and wondered how these folk could live so remotely to civilization. The overnight run from Iceland had been, thankfully, smooth sailing. At least as smooth as sailing goes this far north in the fickle Atlantic.

The cab deposited her at the kerb of Vagur Airport, and Riley waved for the Red Cap to bring her a wheelchair as the cab sped off.

She got Will tucked into the wheelchair and headed in to find the ticket counter where the lights were on. Nomi had assured her there was no problem, the tickets would be waiting for them, but she was still holding her breath until the agent smiled, looking up from the computer.

"Here you go, Ms. Gunnarsdottir. You're all set on the next flight to Copenhagen."

Heading for ‘the gate’ Riley realized that the ticket agent, bagging agent and guard positions were all manned by a single person.

They had a few hours to wait for their flight so she parked the sleeping Will besides a potted palm and went in search of a bathroom and coffee.

When she returned She saw that Nomi was sitting with Will.

“I’m so glad you are watching him! But I had to go…”

Nomi smiled, “I understand. I thought he should have someone, just in case. The sedatives are working well, then.”

“Yes, well enough. I had to awaken him to get off the boat, we couldn’t carry him, but he dreamt out loud a little bit, then passed out. But Kala says he will be fine.”  

“I’ll feel better once you’re in Germany.”

“Me too.  I know Wolfgang will take good care of us.”

“He will. He’s already on his way.”

 

**Copenhagen**

Getting through the Copenhagen airport took longer than expected. The place seemed so huge and Riley was so very tired. Somehow she had expected something smaller. Pushing Will in the chair was wearing her out. She felt so small, so pale.

“You’re almost there, Riley.” Nomi appeared beside her.

“You’ve been running on adrenalin for two days, no sleep after god knows what drugs and hours of flashbacks, it’s a wonder you’re still standing.”

She gave Nomi a wan smile, accepting the easy strength that flowed into her body from her friend.

When she spotted Wolfgang amid the sea of strangers Riley cried with waves of relief. Pushing the slumped figure of Will faster, she stepped out into the crosswalk, her eyes fixed on his smiling face. It seemed impossible that they had never met before.

“Watch out!” Someone yelled at her in Danish and a police blew his whistle furiously as a dark sedan screeched, swerved, then sped around them. The guard was running after it, yelling into a radio.

Wolfgang grabbed the chair from her and helped her up the kerb cut, then loaded Will into the rear door of his Audi. Finally he reached out to her, and she leaned in, allowing him to wrap his arms around her and whisper into her hair.

“You’re safe now, We’ll be okay.”

**San Francisco**

'Honey. Wake up."

What? What is it Neets? Is something wrong?"

"No, no not at all , although, yes, sort of."

Nomi looks confused, then irritated. She sat up in the bed and turned the light on. “Tell me.”

Amanita hesitated, then started awkwardly.

"Well you know how you connect with your cluster people, and you can be with them, like, where they are, right?"

"Yes."

"And when you’re there, it’s like you are solid and everything, right?"

"Well,not always,. I’m still trying to figure it out. Sometimes I am actually doing some kind of body swap, I’m inside someone else. Other Times I am a presences no one else can see or hear or, I assume taste or touch. I feel real but I think I am insubstantial, inf that makes any sense.

"Yeah, well, no but sort of.” Amanita smiled and ducked her head.

"What, Neets, ? c’mon, I am so tired.”

"Sweetie, I am getting messages. I need to be with Riley and Will. in person."

"You? You’re getting messages?"

"Yes, well, it happens sometimes, you know I read cards and stuff."

"Yeah, but I guess I never … oh, hell, I’ve been so flipped out over what's been going on, trying to understand being part of a cluster, explaining my invisible friends to you… I just have gotten used to being the weird one.”

Amanita touched Nomi on the nose, then kissed her there. "Fear not, my love. You will always be weird enough for me.”

"But tell me more. What kind of messages."

"Well, Ive told you about my great grandmama, right?"

Nomi looked at her blankly. "I don't remember, sorry."

"It's ok, I got so I didn't tell people anymore , I could tell they didn't believe me.

"My Grand mama Bramba was from the the Nyarinyin people in north western Australia, Kimberley, it's called. They are people of the Dreamtime."

Nomi looked stunned. _No, you never told me this, I’d remember._ She sat up, suddenly wide awake. "Go on."

"Her people were, of course, nearly wiped out by the English, but she survived, escaped from boarding school and went home to the bush to learn the medicine ways. She kept the old language. There are fewer than twelve speakers of it left today, so the recordings she made before she died are incredibly valuable.

"But I digress. The Nyarinyin women were the leaders and the healers of their society. She told me when I was small, I had the gift."

"You know her?Is she still alive?" Nomi was doing the math in her head. The woman would be over 148 years old.

"I remember her a little bit. She was a great big leathery woman with lots of curly grey hair, and I remember stars on her face. My mum says that’s a fantasy, but I think she had scarification - I remember touching her face, feeling the raised marks.

"One time she told me that I was Nyarinyin too, and must learn the arts of the Dreamtime. I thought that meant literal art, painting etc. But now I’m thinking she was talking about energy, about clairvoyance."

Nomi looked at her lover with a new reverence. She thought she had known all the beautiful depth and power of her lover, and yet, here was a new dimension.

“But about the messages.” She prodded.

“Right. Well, I guess it’s a dream, or a vision, but it’s happened a few times now, getting stronger. I need to be with Will and Riley. I need to be able to put my hands on them.”

Nomi puzzled over this for a moment. She started to suggest another way, but looked up into Amanita’s face and saw, and felt, the urgency of her need.

She sighed. “Okay, then. Let’s get  you on a plane.”

Wait! Aren't you coming with me?”

I don't think that’s a good idea, Neets. I have all my gear here, and seem to be flying under radar, miraculously. I don't want to set something off for the BPO and get their attention again. I don't know why they can't seem to see me , but it's a bloody good thing and I need to keep going.

 

They drove for an hour across the Danish landscape, rolling pastures and glittering bays rolled by, until they found a quiet place to stop and take a rest. Wolfgang wanted to press on to their destination, which he said he wasn't going to tell her the name of, incase of an errant connection led a spark back to Whispers.

They headed down through Hamburg and east from there. Riley was sound asleep as soon as they got back on the road after their rest stop. When she woke it was dark, and they were flying along the northeast German coast, ships lights twinkling out across the inky water.

“Where are we? - oh that’s right. Nevermind!”

Wolfgang smiled at her. “We’re coming into a university town founded in 1199 by monks searching for a place to build their monastery. The legend says that they were guided to this place by an enormous griffin. that welcomed them and showed them to the site.The true name, Gryppheswolde means Griffin's Forest.

“What is a griffon?” Riley inquired.

“It’s a winged mythical beast that has the body of a lion, the head and talons of an eagle.”

“Wow, I have never seen this creature! Are they still around here?”

Wolfgang laughed. “It’s a mythical beast! It doesn't exist.”

He started a bit as Kala, who had appeared in the back seat, ran her hand across his cheek.

“You don’t know that, Wolfgang. They could be about. And don’t make fun of our Riley. She may have seen them in Iceland.”

“Kala! Oh so good to see you. Thank you for everything you did back in the hospital, you saved my life, Will’s life.”

Kala smiled and touched Riley on the forehead. “We are one.”

Riley shivered a little, not the fear kind, but a warm ripple deep within. She took Kala’s hand and held it in both of hers, looking into her dark eyes.

“We’re almost there.” Street lights were flickering past the windows and the sky grew lighter with a city glow. “I want you to wear this.” He handed Riley a swath of dark fabric. “Over your eyes, a blindfold.”

 

====

 

**Reykjavîk**

 

Her head was splitting with a vicious headache. The pain was getting worse in recent weeks, ever since Riley had risked returning to her home. Stupid girl. If only she had listened. This time, but also years ago when she was a tiny girl. Yrsa had mentored a young Riley, teaching her the stories and the signs, hoping to awaken the magic within her. Few even remembered the ancient ways of the Hidden People. But they could help provide protection from Whisper’s invasive, malevolent attacks.

But that child’s stubborn young mother Annika resisted Yrsa’s teachings. She scoffed at how they were nothing more than fairy tales. She wanted Riley to be a modern woman, to grow up well educated and independent, not backwards and strange like most people viewed the Icelanders.

Well, at least Yrsa had managed to pass along some of the details. She hoped that silly girl hadn’t lost her mind on drugs and forgotten everything she was taught. So ungrateful! Yrsa found the tablets and drew a glass oc cool water, and washed them down, CLosing her eyes, searching for the connection to Riley. Where was she? Shadowy colors of other sensates flickered in her peripheral consciousness as she saught the electric blue tendril she knew would lead her to Riley. But her head continued to throb, and a feeling of a great heavy shadow across the back of her mind, and so she withdrew from the soul space. Sighing, she turned to the kitchen and began to fix her evening meal.

 

**Hamburg Airport**

Hello! How nice to meet you, the real you! Amanita greeted Wolfgang with an expressive hug. He was quite amazed to find himself with an armful of the most colorful woman he had ever seen. And after Kala, that was saying a lot. Not just her hair - her spirit. Amanita glowed with a positive joy. Wolf had spent some time with Nomi and new this woman as a beloved and loyal companion. In person, her spark was so bright, he was surprised.

Becoming aware of his sensate nature had been a series of astonishments. His unhappy and brutal life had not cultivated much reflection, and it taught him to hide any sensitivity. But now he was exquisitely interconnected with 7 other beings, aware of their ideas and strengths as well as their feelings. At first it was overwhelming. If this had been any other kind of association he would have protested that it was all a mistake. This was clearly impossible and thus he entered this new world with the courage he brought to any new situation.

He quickly learned to drop his wariness. The soul connection was an immediate indicator of integrity, or the lack of it. And he realized he already had a well developed intuition about all people. This surprised Wolfgang, but now he realized where it came from, and vowed to trust it more deeply.

From this new sensitivity he could feel Amanita’s energy envelop him. And so he hugged her back. And felt Nomi standing with them, smiling.

“I know she couldn't be in better hands, Wolf.”

“She’s safe and sound, don't you worry.”

“Just take good care of her. It’s odd how clear you are and Neets feels far away.

“What? Who - oh! Is it Nomi! Hi sweets!!”

She planted a big wet kiss on Wolfgang's cheek. “Did you get that?”

Nomi watched with amusement. “I’m over here, hon.”  
Wolfgang laughed, shook his head, then scooped up her bag.

“Let’s go - there’s a lot to fill you in on.”

 

**Greifsvald**

Riley curled into the big armchair closest to the fire and held her warm teacup in her lap. She watched the flickering flames waiting for a blue flame to emerge, a game she used to play with her father. He had explained the chemistry to her and although she was a small girl who really didn't understand she loved the blue fire and waited for it’s appearance.

Amanita sat cross legged on the hassock pulled up near the hearth. She watched Riley’s face illuminated by the warm firelight, and studied her energy. I _never knew that I knew so much,_ she thought. _I count on my gut feelings, but there is so much more than that going on._

“So I wanted to explain why I came all this way, traveling the hard way that us mere muggles are limited to.”

Riley turned and smiled at her. “I’m grateful that you're here. Nomi has shared much about you, it's lovely to really meet you. She has been a lifesaver for me and Will.”

“Well, and you to her, obviously!” Neets tossed her brilliant braids over her shoulder. “So tell me what is going on and how i can help.”

Riley described the nightmare of their escape from the hospital and flight across the sea, and how Wolfgang managed to find some sanctuary here. But she feared it could crumble at any time. She could feel Whispers worrying away at the edges of her perception. He was so determined - she believed he would eventually break through sooner or later.

“So I don't know what the best strategy even would be. This is just all so new.” She chewed her lip and frowned.

Amanita drew closer and leaned against Riley’s knee. “That must be so frightening. How do you even sleep?”

Riley emitted a brittle laugh. “I don't , not well at least. If I am with Will I fear he will be attacked because I am there. When I am away from him I am panicking that I am doing nothing to protect him. Plus, it's not good to keep him sedated so much.  Kala tells me.”

“She’s the nurse from India, right?”

Smiling, “yes. She’s lovely. And wicked smart. She’s in love with Wolfgang, although she doesn't believe it yet.”

They giggled, and Neets snuggled closer. Riley touched her hair.

“How do you do this? It's so beautiful!”

Amanita beamed. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just chemistry, and patience.”

“So listen,” she sat up and turned to see Riley’s face. “I had to come - I had a dream, or a vision, not sure which, that told me in no uncertain terms I must to help you. And of course since it’s  me I need to actually BE here.”

A glimpse of curious hope flickered across Riley’s expression. She nodded. “Go on.”

“I've never thought I was all that special but I've read tarot for ages, and I guess I have, well,  pretty decent  intuition. I've taken it mostly for granted.

“This vision told me I had to use the ancient ways to protect you. I learned from my Bramba, my great-grandmother from Australia. She was of the Ngaryinin people of the dreamtime, and she wanted to teach me the old ways. I learned as much as she could before she passed.”

 

Riley sat up - “You know - I had a teacher like that too. Not my grandmother, it was the old woman, next door, Yrsa.  She wanted to tell me the old stories, but I was afraid of her. My parents would leave me with her sometimes, until I told them she scared me, and then they didn't make me go there any more.

“For years I believed she was the one who cursed me. I was terrified to see her when she appeared at the hospital. In fact it turns out she is a sensate as well. But I can't shake the worry that she’s working for Whispers even now.”

Neets looked surprised. “It's hard to take in all the ‘unbelievable’ things that have happened.” She frowned. “All I know is a ritual for protection, I do it all the time to keep our home safe. So far it’s been pretty effective.

“Are you willing to try it?”

Riley sat up and took Amanita’s hand. “Yes, please YES.” I need all the help I can get.”

“Okay, I will need the following things.” Amanita listed some common household items and Riley went to find them.   

 

Will was dreaming. He raised an arm to evade a blow, but his assailant clubbed him with some long hard object, driving him backward and off balance, his arm throbbing with pain. He grimaced- this dream was too realistic.

The assailant came after him again, this time swinging at his knees. He scrambled backwards and evaded all but a glancing blow, and shook his head to clear it.

Who was this attacking him? Where were his cluster mates? “Sun!” he called out. “Capheus!” He looked around, panicking because he had lost sight of his challenger.

Suddenly a sinister whisper bloomed in his ear. “I’ve got you. I’ve almost got you.”

Will spun around to see, much too close, the bearded face he dreaded most.

 

Amanita had rolled back the rug and arranged a circular pattern of objects in the center of the wooden floor. A mound of miscellaneous candles burned in the center, and a trail of salt traced rays from the center outward. Bowls of water and heaps of grain marked significant points on the circle, which she chose with the aid of the compass on her phone.

She instructed Riley to sit at the east, and circled her with a line of salt, and placed sprigs of holly, the closest she could come to flowers, in Riley’s hair.

Dipping her fingers in a bowl of white paste Neets drew lines on her face and arms, streaking her dark skin with ghostly white marks.  She began to chant quietly in a low voice, then used a wooden spoon as a drumstick on a clay pot. The chant grew in intensity, and became discordant, filled with croaking and screeching sounds.

Riley shivered. Wolfgang came and watched from the door.

Anamita ‘sang’ for a while longer, her body rocking back and forth, and then she rose, she looked like she floated up to her feet without effort or ever breaking the rhythm. She shook loose her hair and danced like an awkward bird, circling around the fire in great strides, ponting her feet, then twirling around and singing to the ceiling.

She stopped the drumming, if you could call it that, and began to howl like a demented sheep. She must have opened her throat when she looked up, because the sound that came out of her was unlike anything Riley had ever hear, and seemed so much louder than you would expect.

 

Riley realized she was growing dizzy from following Neets’ movement around the circle. Her head began to ache, then felt like it was splitting open. Suddenly Yrsa is here, or Riley is there, she can't tell, and starts to flail in panic only to find herself paralyzed.

“Riley! You must listen to me, NOW.” Yrsa’s cruel face twisted before her. “I am trying to help you!”

Riley squirmed, trying to avert her gaze. Something held her in place, and she cried out, internally.

Will was there, immediately. Riley realized in horror that Whispers was too. “Noooo!” she tried to cry out but the only sound she heard was Amanita shrieking in the background.

Something touched her face, first gentle, then grabbing her chin and turning her head.

“Open your eyes you stupid girl! Let me help you now!” Yrsa was livid, her strong boney hand gripping Riley’s jaw.

Riley felt Will’s hand reach her, settle on her shoulder, the back of her neck. She could feel the others near, as well, and hear Amanita’s shrill chanting continue. She had no choice but to look into Yrsa’s eyes, and then for some reason, she melted. Stopped resisting. Someone whispered: “just let all these colliding influences swirl around, and through you.” It was Sun, Riley realized as she was swept along. Sun… she reached toward her energy but now couldn’t find it among all the noise

“Keep them open!” Yrsa demanded. “Now, REMEMBER. These are your people, you know these things, you must raise them now, Riley! Now!”

Staring into her eyes, Riley watched a fleck of light in Yrsa’s eye grow brighter, then spiral, consuming all of the iris, then the entire eye. She felt pulled into the spiral. Although her hands were pinned to sher sides, now she felt her arms in the air, mirroring Yrsa. The old woman now stood apart from her, making familiar gestures to the sky.  Riley matched them, gesture for gesture, a perfect reflection. She felt it rising, a thread of bright hot energy, not her usual electric blue, but this was the opposite - a hot lava red, a sizzling rivulet of laser red, and it rose up through her feet, her spine, and she and Yrsa raised their arms high, as if throwing something to the heavens, and a shape began to form above their heads.

It was a double circle, like a wheel, and it was crossed by spokes of four. Each poke was crossed at its center with crystals, and around the wheel there grew four corners, each  crowned by a harp. Sigils of a feather design marked the outside of the wheel, and when it seemed complete the whole thing began to slowly rotate.

She could hear Yrsa speaking in the ancient tongue, calling the incantation. Riley recognized some words of the archaic form. She thought she heard “by the power of the raven’s egg!”  and “beware my enemy, within or without!”  

 _“Svo hljótt" Sé Með Glósóli…_ ” The words made her shiver, although she was not the least bit cold. She felt the world shake from the power of the magical construction swirling above them, now larger than the room - the room that had now dissolved. _When had they come to this mountain top?_

Riley saw Yrsa clear and strong, no longer pinched and ugly, but serene and fierce in her power. Everything else was in motion - shuddering or spun into a blur. She could feel Will at her back, and Sun, Capheus and Lito behind him, all of their hands steady, pouring love into her through her shoulders, her spine.

Whispers’ horrid face shimmered behind Yrsa, one clawed hand reaching toward her, toward Will, and Riley felt the power in her spine and joined Yrsa in the chantin the ancient words, something to the effect of  “I release innumerable black dragons!”

And she watched Whispers’ face grow pinched and sour, he tried to scream his rage, but his reaching hands shriveled into black char and he fell away, backwards, and was spun off into the universe, a disappearing cry of rage trailing him.

=======

Riley collapsed across Will’s sleeping form, limp and drenched from the effort. Kala and Capheus cradled her. Wolfgang wanted to gather her up, but he held back, leaving her as Amanita had demanded. Her body heaved with breath, but the shuddering had left her, and her breath steadied. Wolfgang pulled a blanket over both of them.

Neets slumped in a chair, wiping the sweat and tears from her eyes. Nomi was beaming at her, staring with amazement, really. Pride, love and surprise played over her features.  

“Nomi is here,” Wolfgang said softly, not wanting to disturb Will and Riley. 

Amanita opened her eyes. Wide. “I see you!” she cried with delight. She went to lep up and embrace her lover, but found herself boneless with exhaustion. The vision of Nomi floated toward her and then was enveloping her, so real, so warm, so Nomi. 

“How is it I can see and feel you? This is wonderful!”

Wolfgang shook his head, baffled and smiling. The others stood around him, all beaming. 

Nomi murmured into her hair  “I have no fucking idea but I think it was you, Neets, your magic was so powerful.”

Amanita wanted to burrow into her lover’s arms and rest, but she looked up and addressed the Sensates. “I think you will be safe now, or at least safer. I don’t know quite what happened, but I think Riley brought something in as well, and we created a strong shield of protection, one that will repel evil forces. I’ll show you all how to keep it reinforced.”  She relaxed back into Nomi’s arms. 

“Tomorrow.” 

 

**Author's Note:**

> apologies for the fake Icelandic. I grabbed some words from my Sigur Ros sound track
> 
>  
> 
> [Sigur Rós, Takk...](https://youtu.be/ojLgN7wqc5A)
> 
>  
> 
> You can see Icelandic staves at [this link here.](http://mentalfloss.com/article/69709/9-spooky-spells-icelandic-book-sorcery)


End file.
